Refuse from coal mining operations can create environmental hazards when piles excrete highly acidified water from iron and sulfur reactions with precipitation water and/or groundwater. Such issues are especially notable for underground mining operations. A currently accepted method of protecting ground water from such acid drainage involves treating the piles with calcitic liming materials and/or partially or completely encasing the piles with liners.
These liners are costly and do not provide a permanent barrier. After a period of time, the liners can degrade, which results in the acid drainage entering the ground and/or water sources. Additionally, the piles can suffer from drawbacks of being unsightly, being devoid of vegetation, being unstable, being unsafe, being prone to erosion, being incapable of growing vegetation, requiring drainage ponds or other expensive mechanisms for managing runoff, or a combination thereof.
A coal refuse remediation process that shows improvements in comparison to the prior art would be desirable.